Hard Girls (39 page)

Patrick didn’t answer her, he was looking around him at the sumptuous décor and he knew that getting rid of his involvement in the houses and flats was the best thing he had ever done. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Simone. I think he’ll learn all he needs to know soon enough.’

‘Hello, Kate. I wasn’t expecting you.’ Jennifer sounded nervous.

Kate pushed her way past her without saying a word. Jennifer shut the front door gently and waited patiently for Kate to say something. Anything. enough.’ll the subjectlt d

‘How could you, Jenny? How could you not tell us who was providing you with young girls? Did you think we wouldn’t find out?’

Jennifer nodded, her face tight with anger. ‘Yeah, that is exactly why. Alec is dead. So what’s the fucking difference? He provided me with loads of girls over the years, and a lot of them are still alive and kicking.’

‘Did Miriam ever know about it? Was she involved?’

Jennifer laughed. ‘’Course not. For every girl he put forward I gave him a couple of hundred quid.’

‘How did you meet him? How the hell did
you
and
him
ever come to meet?’

Jennifer walked into her lounge and Kate followed her.

‘It’s a long story, but as you’re here now, can I get you a drink? I’m having Scotch, can I pour you one?’

Kate nodded. ‘I fucking need one.’

Jennifer put two glasses and a bottle of Grant’s on the coffee table. She poured out two generous measures and then lit a cigarette. Settling herself down in her white leather chair, she said nonchalantly, ‘I met him when he came to a flat I had years ago. Ugly fucker he was and all. He was a regular, he liked this particular girl. Turns out she had been at that Brookway House. She had got in touch with him for some fucking reason or another, and that was what brought him to the flat. Anyway, we got talking, and I said as a joke, any more like her at home? And he said yes. The rest, as they say, is history.’

Kate was scandalised and disgusted at what she was hearing. ‘And that was it? That easy?’

Jennifer shrugged and, opening her arms wide in a gesture of puzzlement, said, ‘Yes, it was that easy, as it happens. He had a fucking constant stream of girls willing to work for the right person. He sounded them out, and if they were agreeable, then he led them to me. They were all over the age of consent, and they did it willingly.’

‘And you honestly didn’t think that this information was relevant? You
knew
the dead girls, you
knew
how they had died.
You
recruited them and yet you are honestly telling me that you didn’t think that any of this was worth mentioning? They died in absolute terror, they were paralysed, but they still knew what was happening to them. Doesss="tx" aid="S

Epilogue

Kate looked around her at the happy faces of her friends and the people she had worked with over the years. It was a lovely party but she knew that, for her, it was nearly over. Seal was blaring out of the CD player, the drink was flowing copiously, and most of the people there were almost legless. She looked at the gold watch on her wrist, it was inscribed with the words,
From all at Grantley, with love
. She would treasure it, it meant more to her than anyone here realised. She had finally admitted defeat, she was too old for this now. It was the time for Annie and Margaret and all the other young officers, her time was long gone.

She sipped at her glass of whisky. It felt good as it warmed her throat. She was a drinker now and she wondered if that was something else that came with age. Her mother had loved a quick nip. She loved a drop of Scotch in her tea or her hot milk. Kate missed her, she still felt her loss acutely. She offered her up a silent toast and she knew her mother would appreciate it.

She looked around her again. The canteen was packed with people, and she was pleased that so many of them had come to wish her well, to see her off. The top brass had been and gone, had given her a few words of praise, and remembered her finest moments, then left at the earliest opportunity. She knew she frightened them, always had. Firstly because she had been a better detective than all her male counterparts put together, and secondly because she had been the lead detective on not one but two serial killer cases. Both of which she had solved. She had also been a consultant on the biggest case Grantley had seen in years. She had a lot to think about where Miriam Salter was concerned. She knew that that was not fore appreciatedc unless h2 { font-size: 1rem; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em; } .
now
, though, that was for another time, another place.

But what really bothered the brass, she knew, was her relationship with Patrick Kelly. It was because of him that she had got to know everything there was to know about her superiors and their close relationship with the people they were supposed to be trying to put behind bars. It had been a real eye-opener for her, right from the start. She had been so naive back then. She was embarrassed just thinkin find her reti

g about it. How could she have been so blind not to see what was going on right under her nose? Now she knew the real deal, inside and out, and she had learned to live with it. Well, she had not really had much choice.

She smiled at Annie as she danced with a dark-haired young uniform with kind eyes and a killer smile. She had taken over Annie’s case, she knew she had acted as if she was the lead on it. Annie had not only had to put up with her at work, she had also had to put up with her in her home. In reality it wey were still talking, were still friends.

But what else could she have done? She had been, to all intents and purposes, homeless. Pat had been livid, but then so had she. After all, they were both of a temperamental nature. It had gone too far, too fast. Patrick had nearly broken her heart, but she had forgiven him. At least on the surface she had. Inside her, she knew it would take longer. Eve was still there, like a ghost between them. Both of them were too frighteneas a wonder th